


Home

by PassedThroughFire



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Autistic Beau, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Foster Siblings, Found Family, Genderfluid Mollymauk, Hurt/Comfort, Implied homophobia, Multi, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sickfic, Trans Vax, autistic caleb, autistic grog, autistic keyleth, autistic percy, foster care to adoption, slight influence from Breathe, tw abuse, tw nightmares
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:47:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23144161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PassedThroughFire/pseuds/PassedThroughFire
Summary: A series of Oneshots in which five members of the mighty nein are adopted by four members of Vox machina, and both groups combine into a family.
Relationships: Beauregard Lionett & Caleb Widogast, Grog Strongjaw & Beauregard Lionett, Keyleth/Vax'ildan (Critical Role), Nott & Caleb Widogast, Percival "Percy" Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III & Beauregard Lionett, Percival "Percy" Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III/Vex'ahlia, Scanlan Shorthalt/Pike Trickfoot, Shaun Gilmore/Keyleth/Vax'ildan, Shaun Gilmore/Vax'ildan, Vax'ildan & Vex'ahlia (Critical Role), Vex'ahlia & Caleb Widogast
Comments: 66
Kudos: 413





	1. First Meetings (Part 1)

Beau was trouble. Everyone said so. Every foster parent, her own father, the teachers at school, the bullies, the mean girls. Even her friends said she was, but they said it nicely, so it was okay, because they were trouble too.

It had been a good month since she'd come back to Fletchling and Moondrop, her most recent foster father had called enough after the third fight. Thankfully, everyone was still there, and she'd missed her friends while she was with Zenoth. But now, once more, Gustave had pulled her from the room with Caleb and Nott. Beau huffed and crossed her arms.

"I don't know what they told you, but whatever it is, I might've started it, but they probably deserved it, an-"

"No, no, Beau, honey, relax, you're not in trouble."

...

Well that was new.

“I’m not?”

“No.”

Hm. Well, if she wasn’t in trouble, there could only be one reason for why Gustave was talking to her, alone.

“I’m not doing it.” Beau turned around and started to go back inside.

“Wh-What do you mean you’re not doing it?”

“Grownups don’t like me, they think I’m stupid, but they’re stupid, they don’t want me.” Beau crossed her arms, trying to focus on the way her arms felt bare again. She didn’t have to wear sleeves here. Sleeves felt wrong. Gustave passed in front of her.

“Beau, I’m not gonna lie, sometimes you can be a lot to handle, just like Molly is sometimes hard to be around, cause he’s loud, right?”

Beau nodded with an indignant sniff, not looking at the man.

“Yeah.”

“Yeah, so, some grownups aren’t strong enough to handle your awesomeness.”

“You mean they don’t like me.”

Gustave sighed.

“Beau. Please listen to me for… 20 seconds, okay?” 

Beau pursed her lips and nodded. 

“I know you haven’t had the best luck with foster parents before, but please, these people are really something special. Just promise me you’ll at least try.”

Beau bit her lip and thought about it.

“Okay, but, only if Caleb comes with me.” She suddenly realized how needy that sounded. “He, he needs someone to look out for him besides Nott. And, and I’m tough, so, I should do it.”

Gustave chuckled with a nod. “That’s fine with me.”

“Good.” 

She promptly left the conversation and went back into the room. 

* * *

Caleb had issues. He didn’t even bother trying to deny that. Thankfully, neither did Beau, or Nott. They didn’t care that he had a weird obsession with fire, or that he could spend all day staring at one spot on the wall, not thinking about the wall at all. It helped that Beau did that sometimes too. They didn’t like to talk about feelings. Feelings were too complicated, even for him. Even the science of feelings wasn’t exact.

If he could process things like that, he would’ve figured out that he and Beau were friends, not just roommates with a better connection than most people he’d met. 

Nott was his sister, that was different, she had to love him. She said that she did, a lot. She was always worried about him too. She was proud of him, especially when he came home from school with a good mark on… well, anything. 

Beau wasn’t like that, and that was nice to have. Beau was worse at telling the truth about herself than he was. Except sarcasm, she could do that. Beau made the noise in his head go away, she punched people that were mean to him at school, and she wanted to be a ninja when she grew up. 

Caleb was pretty sure that anyone who wanted to be a ninja couldn’t be that bad.

So he did things she needed him to do, because he saw her do the same for him.

Even now.

“-ou still listening?” Beau cocked her head to the side. He blinked and nodded. “Okay, cool. So, wanna come with me then?”

Caleb thought on it, recalling her words. A couple wanted to come and meet her, and she thought that they should meet him too. In Beau speak, that meant she didn’t want to be alone.

“What about me?” Nott piped up from the bed. His sister meant well, but sometimes he thought she didn’t get how Beau worked.

“No, they don’t wanna see you,” Beau responded truthfully. Nott frowned for a second and looked back at her phone, grumbling. Caleb thought it was funny that she was shorter than he was, and she was a teenager.

“-aleb, hello?” He looked back at Beau.

“Ja, I’ll do it.”

“Cool, thanks.”

He didn’t honestly expect it to go anywhere. Most couples who saw either of them and actually had a conversation with them tended to leave after twenty minutes. This would be the same.

* * *

Mollymauk was a lot. He was happy to say that about himself. It meant he had his very own shield. Whenever someone was being mean to him or his friend, he could just become A Lot, and people would back off. Sometimes he could be scary, because he had a lot of weird scars and he drew pretty birds on himself to cover the weird red spots, but more often he just liked being annoying, more often than not because they deserved it. The coat helped that image, told people at school who he was, so they knew not to mess with him a second time. It also helped people sometimes, and Molly liked helping people.

So, obviously, Molly easily followed Gustave out into the hall, assuring Yasha that it was fine.

“So, Molly, do you wanna know why I brought you outside?” Gustave took a breath. That wasn’t good, that meant it was serious. Molly had already gathered that, of course, but that confirmed it. “Do you remember Gilmore?”

Or not

“Yeah! He was awesome, I liked his coat.”

“Yes, I like it too. Well, some of his friends have been thinking about foster care, and they’re coming over later, some are meeting with Caleb and Beau, and there’s a couple who’d like to meet you.”

Molly took a hot second to process that(He liked that, hot second, Jester taught that to him). A couple. Wanting to meet him, specifically. That was new. Most grownups avoided him. They were the ones who said he was A Lot. Then another thought came to mind.

“What about Yasha?”

Gustave sighed. “Do you want Yasha to come with you?”

“Yes, because they should meet her, she’s nice, and grownups like that she’s quiet.”

Gustave blinked and sat back against the wall again. “You make a strong case.”

“I know.” 

Gustave chuckled and ruffled his hair. Molly leaned into the touch before getting up and going back into the room.

Yasha sat on her bed, looking through the botany book from the library. She looked up at Molly and cocked her head to the side.

“Gustave says people wanna meet us.”

She blinked and pointed to herself.

“Yes they wanna meet you, dummy.” He jumped onto the bed with her and laid his head on her shoulder. “You’re awesome, and grownups like you. I wouldn’t be surprised if they adopted you, and then me, so that you wouldn’t get all angry Yasha on ‘em.”

She smiled a little, so he took that as a win.

* * *

Vax was nervous as he and Keyleth walked up to the Fletching and Moondrop Foster home, Percy and Vex not far behind them. Keyleth was practically vibrating. 

“Oh my gods, I’m so excited!!” She bounced next to him, her fingers going a mile a minute as she held her fidget cube in her hands. She shuffled around a bit and stood firmly on her feet as they waited for Percy and Vex, who had fallen behind a bit.

Vex bit her lip as she stopped walking. She looked back at the car, where Scanlan gave her a thumbs up, then at the ground. Percy walked back to her.

“Hey, everything okay?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah, yeah, I’m fine, just… thinking.”

Percy raised an eyebrow. “Good thinking or bad thinking?”

“Worried thinking.” 

Percy blinked, taking a second to sort out their context “So, bad thinking?”

“Yes darling.”

“Okay, can I fix it?”

Vex chuckled and hugged her husband. He was confused but hugged back.

“I don’t know love, I just keep thinking that, well, that I won’t ever be good enough, or that I’m gonna be just as bad as my father, or worse, or-”

“Hey, you’re going to be amazing. And if this kid doesn’t want to have you as their mother, then, please try to remember that, that’s not your fault. Okay?”

Vex smiled and pulled away.

“Okay.”

“And if you’re worried about messing up, we passed the training, we know a lot of stuff, and I can say from firsthand experience, you’re extremely caring.”

She smiled a little at that, nudging his shoulder with hers. He smiled back and nudged her as well. Vex took a breath and looked at her husband.“Good, now let’s go.”

Vax knocked first. The four of them were greeted by a taller man with bright pink clothing. Now they saw the Gilmore connection.

“Ah, you must be-”

“And you’re-”

“Yes. Please, come in, come in, I’ll get them in just a moment.” He stepped aside and let them in. The place was colourfully decorated, lots of different colours, lots of fun knick knacks from Gilmore’s shop and others like it. 

Keyleth was enthralled, Vax was interested, Vex was amused, and Percy found all of it entirely too bright for his liking, but to each their own.

“Right this way, little ones’ll be down soon, just make yourself at home, whichever of you that wants to go first can just step into the office.” He motioned half heartedly to a door with a frosted window in it. 

The twins looked to each other.

“I guess that’s us.” Vex stood with Percy and stepped inside. 

The room was surprisingly dim compared to the rest of the building so far. A large box of toys and stuffed animals was in the corner, and a smaller box next to it held a great deal of fidget toys. Percy had a good feeling about this. There was a desk and some chairs that had been pushed off to the side, and had been replaced by couches and bean bag chairs. Vex gladly sunk into one of those, while Percy took the couch. 

“What do you think they’ll be like?”

“I don’t know, guess we’ll find out.”

* * *

Beau sat at the top of the stairs, Caleb behind her.

“Well?” The boy looked at his friend. She didn’t reply. “You said we had to go, ja? So let’s go.”

Beau couldn’t argue with that, so she stood and made her way down the stairs. She would never admit how relieved she was when she heard Caleb’s footfalls behind her.

She went up to Gustave and tugged on his shirt. He looked down and smiled. 

“You ready?”

“No, not really.”

“Nein.”

He chuckled and gently patted her shoulder.”You’ll be fine, you’ve got each other, and if you want to leave at any time, just knock on the door.”

Beau gladly kept that in mind with a nod, and went past the house father to the door, opening it.

Caleb hung back behind her as she opened it a little. He caught a glimpse of a shock of white hair through the space, and the tall, gangly man to which it belonged. He carefully took Beau’s arm, trying not to immediately run back.

Beau gulped and put on her game face as she opened the door wider, practically marching in before plopping herself and Caleb down onto one of the bean bags, across from the woman.

Vex sat up a little straighter as the two children entered the room. Two was not what she was expecting, but she could roll with it. 

“Uh, hi, nice to meet you two.” She held out her hand. She could see the shy one back up a little further, and the other one flinched. She retracted her hand and shoved it in her pocket. 

Percy had never been as thankful for his touch aversion as he was right now. He spun his spinner ring with his thumb, trying to be subtle about it. It failed miserably, but almost in a good way. The one with the tank top blinked in surprise and looked up at the armrest.

Beau looked between the man and Caleb. She leaned towards him a little, trying to be quiet. “He’s kinda like you, he’s got the same ring.” She pointed at it.

Percy smiled a little and took the ring off, placing it on the ground in front of Vex. “Not exactly, mine’s a bit bigger than yours, I think,” he said quietly. The smaller boy scuttled forward and picked up the ring, spinning it quickly as he sat in front of Vex.

Caleb blinked as he remembered, manners. “Er, danke.” 

Percy smiled. “Not a problem. I’m Percy, by the way, it’s a pleasure to meet you both.”

“I’m Vex’halia, but you can call me Vex, if that’s easier.” Vex looked back at the girl, who still sat, arms crossed on the bean bag.

Beau searched their faces for any hint of a lie. So far, nothing. It was then that  _ she  _ remembered manners.

“Oh, uh, I’m… I’m Beau, this is Caleb.”

“Hallo.” Caleb raised a hand in greeting and put Percy’s ring back on the armrest. He shuffled up to the opposite side of the couch. 

Beau blinked and went to join her friend. “Um, Caleb’s pretty cool, he’s smart, he’s quiet.”

“Ja, uh, Beauregard is gut as well. She has a very good punch, and she can’t lie.”

Beau blushed as Caleb revealed that. She was confused, why were they trying to show off to these grownups, they were probably just like all the rest. Well, almost. She looked at Percy.

“Why’s your hair white?” She pointed at the older man. Percy blinked in surprise, chuckling as he ran his fingers through it. 

“It, uh, it grows like that, because of some… not nice things people did when I was younger.”

Beau raised an eyebrow. Maybe this guy was more like them than she thought

“That sucks.”

Percy chuckled a little at the bluntness.

“It most certainly does, but it was a long time ago.”

“Does it hurt?” Caleb asked shyly. Percy shook his head.

“No.” 

Caleb looked down at his ring. He scrambled off the couch and pulled a fidget spinner from the little box. Beau stayed on the couch, looking at the woman. Vex watched Caleb spin the little thing before looking back at her husband and the girl.

“My brother keeps telling him to dye it some weird colour.” She chuckled a little, trying to ease the tension. Blessedly, it worked. Beau shuffled closer to Percy and looked at his hair. The doctor saw the girl’s hand occasionally sneak away from her torso, towards her husband’s head, before hastily retracting it.

“... Can I touch it?”

Percy seemed surprised at this, but more amused than anything.”Uh, sure.” He came closer and bowed his head for her. Her fingers weren’t like Vex’s, long and thin, they were more short and wiggly, feeling his hair. It was weird, but a good weird, he ultimately decided. 

Vex looked over at Caleb, who had put down the spinner, and was just watching in utter confusion as his friend carded her hands through the stranger's hair. He carefully sidled up to the pair and sat down next to Vex. He looked at her necklace.

Vex followed his line of sight and smiled. “You like bears?”

“I like cats.”

She nodded at that. “So does my friend, she has a white one.”

Caleb bit his lip and reached into his coat pocket, withdrawing Frumpkin. “I made him.”

Vex’s eyes widened and Beau retracted her hands from Percy’s hair, hopping down onto the floor.

“Whoa! He looks even better than Professor Thaddeus!” She held her hand out, and Caleb tentatively placed the little beanie animal in her palm. She ran a finger over it and smiled a little. “Good job.”

“Danke.” He took Frumpkin back, looked at him, then handed him to Vex. Vex held the little thing and smiled. 

“Who’s Professor Thaddeus?”

“He's the owl Caleb made for me.”

“Ja, that is Frumpkin.”

Percy smiled at the exchange. “That's really quite amazing, how old are you?”

“He's 10, I'm seven." Beau looked up at Percy

“Whoa.” Vex handed Frumpkin back. “Excellent work on him.”

Beau smiled and nudged her friend. 

Percy smoothed over his hair and sat up. He didn’t know what to say, so he did what he did best, study. He watched the pair for the rest of the interaction as his wife delighted them with stories, and they told a few of their own. Well, Beau told them, Caleb occasionally jumped in with clarifications or his own thoughts on the matter. 

Percy could easily gather a few things about the children. One, both were extremely guarded. Two, they were a little scared of touch, but were fine if they initiated it, or warmed up to it after a little while. Three, Beau was definitely the more outgoing of the two. Caleb was shy. They weren’t biological siblings, but they sure could’ve passed for them. He learned that Beau fought a lot, and that Caleb was smart. They were both smart, incredibly so. And there was a wall up in front of them both. A wall that protected them from, well, everything. 

He couldn’t understand why, but he wanted to build doors in those walls.

“-ercy, darling.” Vex looked at him. Beau smirked. 

“He’s totally like you.” She looked back at Caleb.

“Hm?”

“Ah never mind.”

Percy blinked and looked at Vex. “Yes?”

“I think our time’s nearly up.” She looked at the clock in the room. Percy frowned a little.

“Already? Well, we’ll have to come back then another time, I’d love to come sit with you two again.” He carefully stood up, not enjoying the pop of his joints. 

Beau chewed on the inside of her lip before sticking out her hand again. “It was nice to meet you.” 

Vex shook her hand, and then Percy did. “It was nice to meet you as well, Beau.”

Vex smiled and gave a gentle wave to Caleb. “Goodbye, we’ll be back soon.” 

“Goodbye.” Caleb waved back, and made Frumpkin wave back as the four of them stepped out of the room. 

The two children didn’t even notice the other couple sitting there as they bounded up the stairs back to their room. They had to tell Nott everything.

* * *

Gustave had paid a little less attention to the conversation between Keyleth, Vax, Molly, and Yasha than he had with the others. Molly and Yasha were more comfortable around grownups, sorry, adults, than Beau and Caleb were, and they knew how to help each other in conversation, or lack thereof in Yasha’s case.

Nevertheless, the four of them had stepped out of the room smiling, already chattering excitedly about the next time they’d be over.

Molly had emerged from the room, talking loudly, as always, but, for the first time since Gustave had met him, he was matched in volume, pace, and enthusiasm, by Keyleth. Yasha was holding Vax’s hand as they stepped out, slightly distancing herself from the volume. Vax only smiled as they stepped out of the room. Gustave let them have a little more privacy as he went to check on the others.

“-and it was amazing!” Molly ended his sentence by throwing his arms up in utter joy at whatever story he’d been telling.

“It sounds amazing, Molly, you’ll have to tell me what happens next when we come back!” Keyleth happily bounced on the balls of her feet. Molly joined her in bouncing.

“I want you guys to come back now!”

“Ooh! Yeah! Vax can we come back now?!” Keyleth turned to her husband. Vax chuckled and Let go of Yasha’s hand, putting his hands gently on Keyleth’s shoulders.

“Kiki, you do know we have to leave in order to come back, right?”

Keyleth deflated at that, as did Molly.

“Aww, I want you guys to stay.”

“Me too.”

The three of them stopped and looked back at Yasha, who was looking straight on at the three of them. Molly was the first to snap out of it.

“Look at you, you great beautiful woman, you did it!” He ran towards her and hugged her tightly.

“... Just a little.” She smiled down at him.

Vax grinned and let go of his wife. The pair of them looked at each other, then back at the kids.

“Well how’s this, we’ll come back next week on the same day, and then maybe we can all hang out with your friends, and our friends?” Vax suggested with a shrug. 

Molly looked at Yasha. Yasha looked at Molly. They seemed to have a silent conversation. Not that it was an unfamiliar concept to the couple, by any means.

“Sure.” Molly nodded, holding out his hand. Vax happily shook it and smiled at Keyleth.

“Can.. Is it okay if I hug you? I know some people don’t like hugs, like my brother in law, Percy, you saw him earlier, he doesn’t like- Oof!” She was cut off suddenly by a small boy around her leg. She smiled and helped him off so they could properly hug.

Molly threw his arms around the redheaded woman.”You give good hugs… I’m gonna keep you.”

Keyleth smiled.”Only if we can keep you two as well.”

“Deal, cause I go where she goes, and she goes where I go, it’s a whole thing really.”

“That’s pretty great.” She pulled back and smiled. “Well, I guess we gotta go now. We’ll see you next week.” She stood and waved to Yasha, who waved back with a small smile. Vax ruffled her hair a little, and she giggled a little as the couple walked out.

Keyleth giggled wildly as they met up with Vex and Percy.

“I love them so much.”

“The two we met were just as amazing.” Vex smiled, and Percy nodded.

“A bit cagey, but we’re hardly ones to talk.”

“True. Now, we should probably head back before rush hour.”

The four of them hopped into the car and started to head back to Emon, telling Scanlan all about the children.


	2. Braids

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one's a bit short, but that's alright, they're of varying length.

Dedicated to coruscantspark

Vax: 35 Yasha: 10

Vax sat in the living room of the house he shared with Kiki and Gil. The pair of them had gone out shopping for new school clothes with Molly, and he’d decided to stay home with Yasha, who’d slept in after a busy day the day before. He was sitting shirtless on the couch, strumming at his ukulele. His scars were a bit too sore still to use the guitar. So he hummed a tune as he plucked at the strings, getting the familiar feeling back into his fingers. He hadn’t realized how much time had passed until he felt the couch dip beside him. He looked up to see Yasha, with the bedhead of a racoon, sitting next to him. 

“Morning sleepy head. Didja sleep well?” He smiled, going back to plucking at the uke. He saw her nod in his peripheral, yawning as she rubbed her eyes. “That’s good, you were tuckered out yesterday, long day at the park?” This time a smile accompanied the nod. He put down the ukulele, starting to braid sections of his hair when he felt a tug on his sleeve.

“Can you do mine?” He could feel his eyebrows shoot up. He looked over at Yasha, who was looking at him straight on. 

“What’d you say?”

She let go of his sleeve and pushed her hair out of her face. 

“Can you do mine? I like how yours looks.” It took a sec for him to process the words, but once he did, he nodded excitedly. 

“Sure kiddo, you want the beads in it like mine?”

He saw her ponder it for a second. She shook her head and went towards the table, pointing at the vase of tiger lillies. He smiled. “You want the flowers like Kiki has?” She nodded, looking back at him.

“Yes please.”

“Alrighty then, I’ll go get em.” 

Not long after, Vax sat behind Yasha, his own hair pulled into a high ponytail as he carefully threaded his fingers through her hair, weaving the sections into braids, occasionally tying in one of the fabric flowers.

A brush sat next to him that he definitely would have to replace, as it was now destroyed. He made a mental note to text Keyleth to ask for some new conditioner.

“And there, we, go.” He tied off the last one and held up the hand held mirror. “What do you think?” He passed it to her. 

Yasha stared into the mirror for a moment. And a few more. And a few more after that. She could see her face. She… She looked beautiful. She dropped the mirror, turned around, and hugged Vax tight. 

“Thank you.” 

Vax was sure whatever face he was making was hilarious, but hey, a 10 year old hugging your torso where you had top surgery only a while ago, it could hurt. It was worth it though. So, incredibly worth it. 

“You’re so welcome. Oh, I can’t wait for Mollymauk to see, he’s gonna love it.” He hugged her back.

Sure enough, when the trio returned, there was much fawning over Yasha’s braids, and Molly already had ideas.


	3. Lorenzo (Part 1(?))

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quick Tw for blood, bruising, hospital mention, alcohol mention, and the burning of one's beard.

Beau: 17 Caleb: 20 Vex: 43 Percy: 42

“You are in so much trouble when we get home, you know zat, right?” Caleb grumbled as he drove the two of them home. Beau sat in the backseat, definitely bleeding on the interior.

“Fuck you man, I coulda taken ‘im,” she piped up hoarsely.

“Oh ja, just you, against Lorenzo, a man twice your size, with a nail bat and two guns on him at all times. Sure you could’ve.” Caleb looked at his sister in the rear view mirror. 

A few weeks ago, Molly had been attacked in an alley by some thugs calling themselves the Iron Shepherds. They’d been giving the whole group trouble, stealing Fjord’s bag, making Jester scared to go to work after they’d dropped a giant spider in the tip jar, trying to harass Yasha at the gym, and then they’d attacked Molly in an alley, and that had been the last straw. Beau had gone after the leader, and had only been able to walk away from the fight when Caleb showed up with a can of hairspray and a lighter. 

They weren’t stupid enough to stick around after he burned someone’s beard off.

Beau had been on the ground, mumbling and groaning into the pavement. It was only through the promise of booze that Caleb had even gotten her into the car. She’d been thoroughly disappointed when he said they were going home, and not to Jester’s.

“I wanna drink,” she protested as they pulled into the driveway of the giant Victorian house.

“You can drink with Mama once she’s done lecturing you.” Caleb sighed and ran his hands down his face. He had been planning on starting/finishing his new book tonight, he had not planned on picking up his sister from a fight with a maniac.

“Nooo, don’ make me do that.” Beau poked her head up from the backseat. 

“Too bad, we’re going.” Caleb got out, closed the door, came round to the back and opened one of the doors. “Can you get out?”

“Yeah yeah, dipshit, I’m comin’.” She slowly crawled her way out of the backseat, reluctantly taking his offered hand. He slung her arm over his shoulder and closed the door with his foot, leading her up to the door.

He took another look at Beau, now able to see her injuries in the porch light. Black eyes, bloodied forehead, split lip, bloody nose, swollen jaw, the works. He sighed and knocked on the door. 

The pair of them looked at each other as they heard the familiar footsteps of their mother come closer.

The door opened in no less than 2 seconds, where there now stood a fuming Vex'ahlia de Rolo, in a long blue nightgown and a dressing gown of a darker blue.

Beau looked down ashamedly. “Hi Mom.”

“Hallo Mama.” Caleb sighed. Vex didn’t say anything, just turned around and started heading back towards the interior, beckoning for them to follow. 

“You two, are, absolutely _unbelievable_ sometimes, did you know that? I could’ve been sleeping, or reading with your father, at two AM, but no! Instead, I’m sitting in the living room, absolutely worried sick that you’re passed out in an alley-”

“Almost,” Beau added.

“Or drunk-”

“She wanted to be,” Caleb chimed in.

“But it’s not even that!” Vex turned to them, first aid kit in hand as she headed back over to the living room. Caleb looked at Beau, and helped his sister after their mother and onto the couch. “No, instead, one of you went and got into a fight with a legitimate gangster, and the other didn’t even think to tell me he was going to go out with my favorite hairspray and a lighter, and doesn’t call me until they’re halfway home!” She sat down and took a few breaths.

“Sorry Mom.” Beau avoided eye contact as she sat on the couch, wincing at the pain that came with movement.

“ _Ja_ , we are both very sorry.” Caleb sat in one of the other chairs. Vex sighed and rubbed her temples.

“It’s fine, it’s fine, at least you’re home. Caleb, you can head upstairs, I can take it from here.” Caleb nodded. 

“Good night Mama, Beauregard.” 

“Night Caleb.”

“Good night my dear.” Vex took the time in which he walked up the stairs to calm herself down before turning back to Beau, who had her eyes on the floor as she chewed on the inside of her cheek. “Beau…”

No response.

“Honey…. Can you at least look at me, please?”

Reluctantly, Beau looked up at Vex, lips pursed as she tried to ignore the worried gaze of her mother. Vex wasn’t having it and gently held her daughter’s chin, checking for any more bruises or cuts she may have missed.

“Oh dear….. That Lorenzo character is a nasty piece of work… I do hope you got a few good licks in, eh?” She smiled a little and let go of Beau. The girl smiled back, her teeth a little bloody.

“Yeah, maybe a few.” She shrugged. “Ow.”

Vex chuckled. “Alright, alright, come on now, let’s get you all fixed up.” 

Beau reluctantly pulled her hoodie off, leaving her in her crop top so her Mom could get at the other injuries. She winced as Vex dabbed the antiseptic over her cut. 

This was hardly the first time this had happened. Beau had always been a fighter, hell she wrestled with trinket when she was 7 and still did.

It was always easier when Vex was patching her up. Percy tended to ramble about variables and options and how she should always have a pocket knife rather than a switchblade. Not that Beau had one. Obviously.

“... And that should cover it with the antiseptic, does anything need stitches?” 

Beau shook her head. “No, Mom, nothin needs stitches.”

“Good, that means I won’t feel bad telling your dad in the morning.”

Beau groaned again. “Aww c’mon Mom, he’s a bigger worrier than you are.”

“I know. That’s your punishment. You have to sit through all of his talking.” She gently pushed Beau’s hair back. “Now… I want you to promise me you won’t go after this man again, alright?”

Beau sighed. “I promise, Mom, just-”

“Just what?”

“... They went after Molly, this was the douchebag that put them-”

“In the hospital, I know, dear, Caleb told me.” 

Beau sighed and leaned into her. Vex gently got her daughter’s hair out of its usual bun and carefully let it fall. “I understand completely, but next time, at least take Grog with you. I don’t want you to end up next to Molly in the ICU, okay?”

“...Okay.”

“... Once Dad’s finished his lecture tomorrow, we can go visit them, yeah?”

Beau smiled. “Yeah.”


	4. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quick TW for mentions of abuse, bullying, nightmares, and panic attacks

Beau: 12 Caleb: 15 Nott: 19 Vex: 39 Percy: 38

_ "-Never good enough." _

_ "How could anyone like you?" _

_ "FREAK!" _

_ Beau was running, she was being chased by everyone and everything. She turned her head to look back and suddenly she was no longer running. Suddenly she was in the cellar. And her father was at the top of the staircase, holding a key in one hand and a bloodstained belt in the other. Beau's back burned in pain and she screamed and cried as he closed the door, leaving her in the dark and cold. _

_ "Dad! Please I'm sorry! I'll be good! I promise I'll be good!" _

_ She screamed out again as she felt something shaking her, carving something into her forehead. _

_ "Beauregard!" _

_ "Beau!" _

"Beau!" Percy tried to wake his screaming daughter. 

Her eyes flew open as she bolted up, but the screaming didn't cease. 

"Beau, honey, you're okay, it's okay, Beau it's gonna be okay." Percy gently gripped her shoulders, making eye contact with his little girl.

Her screaming morphed into shuddering gasps and choked sobs. 

"I'm sorry, I-I'm so sorry, I'll be good, I'll be good." She was looking at him but not seeing him. Tears dripped down her cheeks and onto the rumpled sheets.

"It's okay, it's alright, my girl, you're okay. You are doing so well," Percy assured her, slowly pulling her into a hug.

She relaxed into the embrace, still shaking and sobbing into his T-shirt. 

"Beau, I need you to tell me five things you can see. Take your time, I'm right here. No rush." Percy was thankful that Vex and Caleb were out for the night, visiting with Pike and Kiki, while Veth was staying over at Yeza’s for the night.

Beau took a moment or two to process that. "I-I can see your shirt, and-and-and, and I can see my, my pants. A-and your star wars socks. And… I can see your pants, a-and my socks."

"Good, good work Beau, you're doing so well. Okay, what's four things you can feel?" Percy felt himself relaxing as her breathing slowed some.

"Um, u-uh I can feel your hand o-on my back… I th-thought my-my-my, my back hurt, I-I don't know if that counts."

"That counts, honey, keep going."

"I….I can feel the bed, a-and the sheets."

Beau slowly started to feel less hazy. She knew that her dad, her real dad, not the jerk who had her before, was the one holding her.

"That's good, that's good. Three things you can hear?" Percy gently rubbed Beau's back, hoping it would help.

"Y-you, and the cars outside, a-and my breathing" 

"Good listening honey, almost there. Two things you can smell?"

"Uh…. The candle th-that Jester got me. A-and your cologne."

Percy chuckled at the mention of both. A bright cupcake shaped candle was on Beau's desk.

"Good to know. One more. One thing you can taste."

".... Cold medicine." She scrunched up her nose at that, pulling away from Percy. 

"Good… Are you with me, Beau?"

"Yeah…. Yeah I'm here… thanks dad." Beau sunk back into him, not putting her arms around him as he did to her, but just letting her head rest on her dad's chest.

"Not a problem." He gently carded his fingers through her hair, frowning as he felt how damp she was. Percy gently laid the twelve year old back down as she fell asleep again. He pulled her desk chair next to the bed and sat down, texting Vex.

* * *

The next morning, Beau woke to Percy snoring in a chair next to her bed. She smiled and tugged on his pajama shirt. He startled awake. 

"I'm up! I'm up. Oh, good morning Beau."

"Morning daddy... thanks for helping me last night." She let go of his shirt, looking down at the blankets, already going through the solar system that covered them. 

"You're welcome... Do those happen often?" He looked at her, elbows on his knees. She shrugged in response, picking at a loose thread.

"Not that bad usually."

"... Usually? So the nightmares are a... regular occurrence?"

She nodded, lips pursed. He frowned. Four years after meeting her, and three after adopting her, and Percy was still learning things about his daughter.

"Well, your mother and I get them as well, so I apologize if we haven't been here for you for that reason, or any reason really." He patted her hand.

"It's okay, Veth 'n Caleb can help me out with 'em sometimes." She smiled a bit at the thought of her siblings. Percy did too.

"Well, that's nice of them. But if they can't come to help, and you want some help, just come wake me up."

She frowned and looked up at him confusedly. "But you don't like getting up."

He shrugged. "You're an exception." 

She smiled and puffed out her chest a bit. "I'm special."

He chuckled and hugged her loosely. "Yes you are."

"Is Mom an exception?"

"Yes."

"Whaddabout Caleb?"

"He is too."

"And Veth?"

"She is."

"Whaddabout uncle Vax?"

"Absolutely not."


	5. Beau and Molly

Beau: 16 Caleb: 19 Vex: 42 Percy: 41, Molly: 16

"No."

"You didn't even know why I was gonna say!"

"You were gonna tell me to stop moping and tell you what’s going on."

"... Lucky guess."

Beau couldn't help but smirk as Molly sat down next to her, before returning to the aforementioned moping. 

Beau had been arguing with Percy and Vex recently. Maybe not arguing, but they had been more worried about her recently. And, to their credit, she had been acting differently for a bit.

But trying to get Pike to talk to her for them was a little telling of just how worried they were. It had set her off again, yelling at them, and she hadn’t left them any time to respond when she ran off. She’d snuck into aunt Keyleth’s backyard, made brief eye contact with Gilmore in the window before the man had retreated, and was now sitting on the back porch, pulling up grass. Apparently uncle Gilmore hadn’t just left it alone like she’d hoped he would, and she was now joined in her grass pulling by Molly.

"So, not that I care, but what has your folks all worked up? Papa was saying something about it." Molly asked.

Beau groaned and laid back. "They said I started acting weird recently but I think I'm acting the same." 

Molly shrugged. "I mean they're kinda right. You've been way more snippy recently."

"I have not been!"

Molly raised an eyebrow with a smirk. "See? Snippy. C'mon unpleasant one, what's the problem?"

Beau sighed and put her head in her hands. "I just…. I don't fucking know man, school is shit, work is shit, home is a little bit shit, I can't fucking sleep and nobody will leave me the fuck alone!" She threw a rock down hard in the grass.

Molly waited for a second before speaking again. "... Feel better?"

"... Yes."

“Alright, what’s up, for real?”

Beau groaned. “Stupid science, I failed my unit test. If I fail another one, I fail the course, and, Dad’s this fucking science genius and so is Caleb and he tries to help but it just doesn’t get through and it fucking sucks, he looked so upset when I told him my grade and-”

“Whoa, whoa whoa, okay, Beau, slow down.” Molly put their hands on her shoulders. “Lemme get this straight, so you flunked a test.” 

“Yeah.”

“And you’ll flunk the course if you fail the next one?”

“Yep.”

“And Caleb and Uncle Percy aren’t the best tutors?”

“Yeah……” She looked down

“....And?” They took their hands off her shoulders. 

“And what?” Her head snapped back up at them, glaring at them, trying to get them to back down.

“Seems like there’s something deeper there,” they prodded. “I know you’re arguing with them more, is it just cause of that?”

“.....”

“...It’s not then… You’re doing that thing.” 

"What thing?"

"That stupid thing you do when you think someone's gonna leave. You start pushing em away so it hurts less when…" They looked and saw her starting to cry. "Beau… you dont… you don't really think they'll leave you just because of a grade do you?"

"..."

"... Oh." ,They frowned, and reluctantly scooted closer. "Well… on the slimmest chance they do, you can stay with us I guess. But you're not touching my makeup."

They smiled as she gave a small chuckle. “And besides, Grog would kick their ass, Mom would lecture them to hell, not to mention dad would absolutely whale on uncle Percy.” They bumped her shoulder. “We’re here for you, grades or no grades.”

“... Thanks Moll.” Beau bumped their shoulder back.

They made a show of reluctantly putting an arm around her. “You’re worth more than some stupid grade. If I know that and I hate you, your parents know that. They love you.”

“...Yeah I guess you’re right. And I hate you too.”

“Yeah you’re a trash person.”

“Dick.”

“Bitch.”


	6. Happy Autism Acceptance Month!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Super short chapter, but wanted to do something for this month. Fuck Autism speaks #redinstead

Everyone aside from Veth is in their teens.

When Fjord walked around the corner and found Jester, Yasha, Caleb, Beau, Veth, Molly, and even Caduceus, glaring up at a billboard, needless to say he was a little confused. 

“Uh… Whatcha guys lookin at?” He followed their gaze, and immediately found the source of their distaste. “Jester, spray cans. Beau, craft paint. Molly and Yasha, glitter. Caleb and Veth, ladder. Cad, you’re lookout.”

~~~~~~~~~

About an hour and a half later, the eight of them smiled, looking up at their work. 

“I like the middle finger over the I, nice touch,” Veth smirked at Beau.

“Thanks. I like the red and yellow lettering, looks badass.”

“Good work everyone.” Fjord grinned.

What had once been an ugly billboard advertising Autism Speaks had now been defaced to say ‘Fuck Autism speaks, #redinstead’ with glitter covering the supposed happy family, and a giant blob of red over the old hashtag. The words ‘wear yellow to support autism in girls’ were written in lovely yellow over top of the blob. 

Jester offered them all a high five. “Alright, now let’s get out of here.”

~~~

When the parents drove by the billboard, they shouldn’t have been all that surprised to have seen Jester’s tusktooth smiley face.


	7. Sick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More Hurt/comfort with Beau and Percy. Quick TW for vomiting, fevers, talk of medicine, and implied abuse

Beau: 8, Caleb: 11, Nott: 15 Percy: 33, Vex:34

Percy worried at his lip as he waited for the thermometer to go off. He sat nervously at Beau’s bedside while she read her book. The poor kid had woken up with a stomach bug in the middle of the night, and the noises coming from the bathroom had alerted him and Vex. Caleb and Nott, thankfully, were sleeping soundly in their rooms.

Beau had protested that she was fine, that she didn't want to bother them with her problems, before once more emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet. Vex had just held her hair back while Percy got a glass of water and a wet cloth ready. Beau had slumped back into Vex once there was nothing left in her stomach to be rid of, breathing heavily. 

"Oh Beau, I'm sorry, this sucks," Vex felt her forehead, frowning at the heat that emitted from the eight year old. Beau had frowned and shook her head.

"'M fine, I can handle it, 'm a big girl." Percy had frowned at that. It sounded rehearsed. He carefully had picked her up from his wife's position on the floor, his concern growing when Beau didn't protest.

"Yes, you're a very big girl, but even big girls need help sometimes. You wanna go back to bed?" He'd received a nod, then a shake of her head. "You don't have to go back to sleep, but why don't we check on that fever, and you can keep reading that book that Aunt Cass brought?" Another nod.

And now they were here, and he was waiting to see the thermometer's results, while Beau read a book of Greek and Roman heroes. Vex was sitting on the end of the bed, occasionally leaving to check on Caleb and Nott. Caleb had woken up once at the light in the hall, and she'd informed him of the situation, but assured the eleven year old that Beau would be alright, and that if she wasn't, they'd let him know. He'd seemed satisfied with that and had reluctantly returned to bed.

Vex and Percy both jumped as the little thing beeped. Beau flinched and groaned a bit. Not a good noise. 

Percy looked down at the little screen, at first, a little alarmed at the 98 degree fever, but relaxed when he didn't see something over 100. He passed it to Vex without a word as he turned to face Beau. "How're you feeling, any better?"

Beau put down the book for the moment and took a second to think about it. "Lil bit… kinda tired." She halfheartedly kicked off the blankets. 

"Okay, do you want to try and go back to sleep? I think we have some cold medicine in the cabinet," Vex offered. Beau shook her head. 

"No, don't need it, 'm a big girl." Percy frowned at the repeated sentence.

"Well, Auntie Kima is a very big girl, she still has to take medicine when she's sick. It's not really a matter of handling it." Vex tried to convince her. Beau didn't look up. 

"How about we see how you feel in an hour, if you're asleep or feeling better by then, no medicine until the morning, but if not, will you take some?" Beau and Caleb were rare exceptions in which Percy could understand children. They didn't like being coddled and they wanted to be treated like an equal. Percy had been the same way as a child.

Beau considered the offer and nodded. "Okay."

"Alright then. Do you want us to stay with you for the hour," Vex offered gently.

Beau shrugged. "Is Caleb okay? Whaddabout Nott?"

"Nott's still asleep and Caleb knows what's going on, do you want me to go get him-"

"No. He's gotta sleep more… Can Percy stay?" She looked at Percy's star wars socks. Vex nodded. She knew the pair of them were growing closer. Had it not been for Caleb and her going to the zoo nearly every Sunday at his request, she might have been jealous.

"Darling?" 

Percy nodded. "We'll be fine, you head to bed, you need the sleep, Dr. de Rolo." Vex smiled, stood, kissed his temple, and left the room, turning the light off on the way out, the pair now left in lamplight.

He turned to Beau, who had put the book down and was now just looking up at the ceiling. He sighed and settled into his chair, following her gaze to what Veth had referred to as a ceiling titty. He chuckled at the thought. “Well looks like I won’t be needing my meds tonight.”

He could see Beau turn to face him in his peripheral. “What’re meds?”

“Medication, medicine.” He turned to her once more, picked up the book from where it lay, open face down, and put a bookmark in. “Vex takes them too, for different things, but still. So does uncle Vax, and Auntie Keyleth and Aunt Cass.”

She nodded. “Yeah Caleb takes some too, right?” 

He smiled. “Yes, he does, we both take the same kind.”

“...For the bad brain stuff?” She mumbled, vaguely gesturing to her own head. He nodded.

“For the bad brain stuff.” He put the book on the nightstand. “Even grownups need medicine.” He looked back at her. 

Beau turned on her side so she could look at the floor. “Daddy said that big girls don’ need medicine. ‘N I’m a big girl.”

Percy was glad she was looking at the floor right now, for the look of fury that stretched across his face was not one he wanted her to see. He clenched his fists, released them, and took a breath.

“Well. He was wrong…. Beau, who’s the biggest person we know?” He put on a calm mask.

Beau picked at a loose thread. “Uncle Grog.”

“That’s right. He’s a big guy. Big, tough, intimidating man. He takes medicine too. For bad brain things.” She looked up at him at that bit of information.

“Really?” 

“Really.” He felt her forehead and cheeks once more. He looked up at the clock. “It’ll help you sleep through the night, and hopefully keep what’s left of dinner in your tummy. I can still stay with you until the morning if you’d like.” 

Beau considered his offer, kicking at her blankets. After a few minutes, she nodded. Percy smiled a bit and went to get the kids Tylenol and a cool washcloth. When he came back, Beau was sitting up again. He offered the little cup. “Don’t drink too fast.”

She slowly sipped at the bubblegum flavored stuff, scrunching her nose up at the taste. “Blegh.”

He chuckled. “Doesn’t taste very good.” He took the cup when she was done with it and handed her the cloth. “This’ll help with the heat. I’ll be right back.” And he left to return the cup to the bathroom. By the time he returned, she had shuffled down under the blankets again, the cloth resting on her forehead. He smiled and settled into his seat once more.

Vex found the pair still sleeping when she woke up the next morning, Percy’s hand grasped in Beau’s.


	8. Gender in the Ashari House (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> quick Cw for implied transphobia, fighting, mention of blood and bruisings.

Molly: 14, Keyleth: 39, Yasha: 15, Vax: 38 (dedicated to Kai)

Molly sat on the couch in a skirt and blouse, trying not to let blood spill onto the borrowed...okay stolen, items. Keyleth was coming down the stairs with a bit of a stomp in her step, holding an ice pack.

Earlier that day, she and Vax had been called by the vice principal of the kids’ school. Apparently Yasha had gotten into a fight defending Molly from some punk kids, and Molly was never one to let his sister fight alone so he’d joined the fight and of course, the teacher hadn’t done anything other than pull the groups apart. 

According to Yasha, since Molly had been uncharacteristically quiet, the bullies had called Molly some unfriendly things. Instead of punishing the boys who’d started it, the teacher had told Molly to suck it up and that bullying was just something that different kids went through, and for Yasha to not get involved, that it wasn’t her fight. When Keyleth had heard that she’d been ready to get into a fight of her own.

“I am going to give that teacher a piece of my mind, and then I’ll kick his ass. What kind of idiot goes through the process of becoming a teacher and comes out the other side still thinking that bullying is just ‘a part of life?’”

“Probably a neurotypical straight cis white dude, babe,” Vax had offered, only barely keeping his wife from going and starting a fight of her own. He gently pulled her back towards him. “Look, as much as I want to go and knock some sense into that man now too, we’ve got bigger things to worry about. Molly hasn’t said anything since we got here, that’s not good.”

“That’s true…” She had settled a bit more, looking at their kids, walking back towards them. She squatted down in front of them. “I think there’s a few things we need to do, first off, neither of you are in trouble, I for one am very proud of both of you, for having each other’s backs, and not letting those kids get away with anything.” She could see them both relax at that. “Second, I wanna know what those kids said, if I need to call their parents, you give me their names.”

“No mum, you don’t need to call them, they probably learned it from their parents anyway,” Yasha frowned. “The boys were just jealous of Molly’s fashion.” She lightly bumped her brother, who smiled.

“What can I say? I’m unbearably dashing.” He smiled, not making eye contact with Keyleth. She didn’t mind that but usually he didn’t avoid it. Part of it probably had to do with the fact that those were her clothes.

“That is certainly true. Why don’t we head home?” Vax offered. Yasha nodded and stood up, Molly following suit as they headed out to the car. “Shaun’s working late tonight, so might just be burgers tonight, is that okay?”

The two teens nodded. Keyleth walked up to Vax’s side. “I might just have a talk with Molly on my own when we get home, I don’t want him to think he’s in trouble for taking the clothes,” she whispered to her husband. 

“Alright, well, let me know if you want me to weigh in,” he offered, much to her relief. Vax was better with the kids than she was, even after 7 years, he was still better with them. But she felt like she could do this. 

So now here they were, her still angered at the sight of bruises on her son’s face. She sat next to him and handed him the ice pack.

Molly gladly put the ice pack on his cheek. “Thanks mum. If you do go down there and fight the teacher, please make sure it’s in front of people so they can see how scary you can be.” He smiled proudly. She chuckled.

“Sure thing sweetie… Can I ask you something?”

“Always.” 

“Was there a reason you took those from my closet? I would’ve said yes if you’d asked.” She gently rubbed his shoulder. He frowned and looked down at the floral print skirt, running a thumb along the beads on the waistband. 

“I… I didn’t want… I’ve never felt good in boy clothes. Well, some of them are okay, but most of them are so boring and… I dunno, restrictive? It’s just graphic tees, miles of jeans and graphic tees. And your clothes, Shaun’s clothes, they’re, better. So much better. I feel more like who I want to be in this than a shirt that has a picture of a hand.” He let out a big breath when he finally got that all out. Keyleth hummed and nodded. 

“Alright, well, thank you, first off, for trusting me enough to tell me. Second, now that we know, I’ll talk to Shaun, the three of us can go shopping, and if you want, we can bring Jester,” she offered happily. Molly’s eyes lit up.

“That sounds great! Actually, while we’re on an adjacent subject, um, IthinkImightbegenderfluid.” He rushed through that last part. 

Keyleth blinked. “Um, you mind running that by me again? Little slower?”

Molly took a deep breath. “I think I might be gender fluid.”

“Oh! Alright, sounds good, what pronouns are you comfortable with?” She made a note to grab some pronoun pins, or get Percy to make some. Molly, meanwhile, looked like he was about to cry. Oh no Molly looked like he was about to cry!! “Oh no, honey, what’s, what’s wrong, are you, did I say someth- Oh!” She jumped as she now had two gangly arms wrapped around her torso.

“I love you so much.” She could feel Molly's tears in her shirt, but it was okay.

“I love you too kiddo. Seriously though what pronouns are you looking to use, I don’t wanna mess up.”

Molly chuckled. “He is still fine, but I like They.”

“Alright, sounds good, I’ll let Percy know.”

“He does make some good pins.” Molly smiled and pulled away. “I gotta ask him if we can make something for Yasha, cause she’s the best sister.”

“I think that can be arranged.” She ruffled their hair.

“Burgers are ready you two!” Vax called into the living room.

“Coming dad!”

“Coming!” They both ran into the kitchen, Molly already chattering about ideas for what to get, and to ask Jester what stores to go to, Keyleth chiming in that they could also ask Shaun.


	9. The first day home (De Rolos)

Beau: 7, Caleb: 10, Veth: 14, Percy: 32, Vex: 33

Caleb, Veth, and Beau walked into the large house behind Percy and Trinket. Vex and Grog were behind them, getting their meager bags. 

“Holy shit!” Beau let go of Caleb’s hand, looking around at the place. “You guys said you had a big house; you weren’t kidding.” 

“My sister and I earn a lot of money from the family business… inheritance helps as well.” Percy chuckled, letting Trinket off his leash. The border collie barked happily and bounded over to his big bed. The three of them hung in the entrance awkwardly. Veth gently nudged her brother. “Go on; I’ll be right behind you.” 

Caleb walked in at her cue, looking up at the high ceilings, and made his way over to the couch. “... Das ist the biggest couch I’ve ever seen.”

“Big couch for big friends!” Grog bellowed as he came in, two bags in each hand. It turns out Caleb and Beau had a whole separate bag just for books they split between them.

“That’s a good point, big man!” Vex came in behind, prying Veth’s bag from Grog. “ We have some rooms upstairs if you guys wanna check em out.”

Veth and Beau looked to each other, then bolted for the stairs.

“I want the big one!”

“I’m the oldest!”

“I’m bigger than you!”

“Fuck off!”

Percy chuckled as he listened to the two girls rocket up the stairs, and followed them up, Grog following suit. Vex, however, stayed behind, noticing Caleb still by the couch. She wandered over, sitting down.

“Ohh, that’s better.” She settled into the cushions and patted the spot beside her. Caleb blinked for a moment, then hopped up to sit next to her. “Soft, innit?” She stroked the fabric. He nodded and started pulling a small blanket out of his bag. She smiled. “That’s a nice blanket.”

“Danke. Um, I can sleep down here tonight if there is not enough room upstairs.” As he spoke, he started to spread the blanket out on the couch. Vex gave a small smile. She knew how this boy thought.

“We have more than enough room upstairs, we have lots of friends, but if you want to sleep down here tonight, that’s also fine. Do you want someone to stay down here with you?”

“Is Caleb sleeping down here?” Grog came running down the stairs, Beau on his back.

“Grog, be careful!” Percy hurried after them, Veth not far behind.

Vex chuckled and suddenly felt a weight on her back. She looked behind her, finding that Caleb was clinging onto her jacket, burying his head in her back. She gently turned, so she was holding him. “It’s okay.” She looked up at her husband and the girls. “I don’t think he was expecting all the attention.” She felt Caleb nod and heard a muffled ‘ja.’

“Ohh, sorry, Caleb,” Beau apologized. Veth nodded. 

“Yeah, we can go do other stuff if you want,” the teen offered. Caleb nodded once more. “Okay. Do you guys have a backyard?” She looked up at Percy, who nodded and led the way, Beau hanging onto Grog excitedly.

Vex chuckled as they went off, still gently stroking Caleb’s shoulder. “They can be a lot sometimes, huh?”

“Ja. But they are good, th-they are friends,” he seemed to assure her. She nodded in agreement.

“I agree. They’re both wonderful. So are you.” She looked down at the boy, who said nothing and offered no noise of agreement. They’d work on that. “I noticed you brought books with you. We have a lot of books here. Would you like to read some?”

He immediately perked up at that, nodding. She smiled. “Excellent, I’ll show you where the library is.”

“You have a whole library in your house?”

“I know, I still marvel at it every day.” She led him towards the closed door to the library. “Alright, close your eyes.” She faltered a little when she saw him hesitate. “I promise it’s just for the surprise of the library.”

“O-Okay.” He did what she asked. She smiled and went a bit in front of him, opened the doors, gently took his hands, and slowly led him into the library. 

“Alright, open your eyes.” She let go of his hands. He opened his eyes, and the way she saw his jaw drop, the way his smile grew as he looked around at the hundreds of books at their disposal, she wanted to see this every day. The only feeling similar to it was when Percy had walked into the house on Greyskull road for the first time.

“This is all yours?” He followed her to the first bookshelf. 

“Mhm. And yours, if you want.” Another vigorous nod.

“I, I will take good care of them.”

“I’m glad.” She smiled and plucked a book off the shelf, going over to a plush couch and sitting down. “You know, between my brother and I, I’m definitely the smarter twin. If he’s ever over, though, don’t be afraid to tell him I said that; he’ll love it.” She winked. He giggled, and her heart absolutely melted as he pulled his own book out of his backpack, which she hadn’t noticed he’d still had on, sat down beside her, and started reading.

That was how a worn-out Percy and Veth, and overly smug Beau and Grog found them a few hours later, and Beau quickly joined the reading party. However, Percy and Veth flopped onto some of the other couches, cursing their lack of a seven-year-old’s energy. Grog enjoyed the quiet for a bit as he snoozed on the big couch a bit before going home.

Needless to say, it was a good first day at the De Rolo household.


End file.
